Galaxy

Northern Californians know many things. Mostly, we know that we are better than Southern Californians. This is an accepted rule of nature that carries over into our sports rivalries.
And this week, with both the Giants and A’s playing their SoCal rivals, plus the Sharks and Warriors ready to start playoff series with the Kings and Clippers, we are practically drowning in rivalry stew. That’s both delicious and somewhat silly, when you think about it.
Here’s why: Most of the teams from NorCal and SoCal consist of athletes from other parts of the country who are purely performing their professional duties. Some of them do get caught up in the California regional loathing spitball fights. Many don’t. They do care about winning the games, of course. But often, the fans get more caught up in the rivalry emotions more than the players.
On the other hand, some of the rivalries do develop with personal animosities toward players on the other teams, based on previous games or the fight for a division title–or best of all, in postseason matchups.
Given all this, I thought it would be a fun exercise to rank the intensity of the pro sports’ NorCal-SoCal rivalries — in two sets of ratings, one from the players’ standpoint and one from fans’ standpoint. This is not a scientific ranking, just my seat-of-the-pants opinions. Feel free to discuss and debate.
And no, sad to say, it does not include the arena football rivalry between the San Jose Sabercats and LA Kiss, which stages its first big confrontation on April 26. No data on that one yet.
My intensity ratings: Continue Reading →